Sum of its Parts
by AruWolf
Summary: Loving life isn't a prerequisite for a good life, and Five's learned that lesson more times than she can count.
1. Lesson 1

No one's ever tried to pass the Raza off as a home but somehow that's what it's become to the little engineer. With a little tinkering, maybe Five can make their ship into more of a home for the rest of the crew as well.

"Ow!"

Okay, maybe diverting power from the core without a dampener wasn't the smartest decision. Biting her lip in frustration, Five searched through her tools, her hand red from the burn and her back cold against the floor. She wasn't going to let a little smoke discourage her.

"Five," the Android's voice broke Five out of her concentration.

"Ah…!" Five winced as she hit her head against the panel. _Damn._

"My intention was not to surprise you."

Rubbing her forehead Five pushed herself from the floor. _Today is not my day._ With a burnt hand and a sore head she reassured the Android that everything was fine, her own insecurities raw from her engineering mishap.

"Your presence is requested on the bridge by Two."

The Android's posture was impeccable, and the only thing that gave away her concern for the girl was the way her eyes softened.

Five frowned, gathered her tool kit, and wondered why Two didn't just try and buzz her through the intercom before following the Android towards the bridge.

Noticing her confusion the Android further explained, "The ship detected a distress beacon in a secluded part of space. Two requested we drop out of FTL to investigate."

"Why?"

"Three suggested there might be _equipment_ for us to use. Six agreed, although quite reluctantly."

"Ha, that definitely sounds like something Three would go after. But then why does Two need my help?"

It _was_ out of the ordinary that Two hadn't paged her. Five's fingers went to her ear only to come in contact with nothing. _What is with my luck today?_

"When we followed the coordinates to the location of the distress beacon there was a problem locating the source of the transmission."

Five frowned again before picking up speed because that definitely didn't make any sense. Hopefully once she was behind a console again she'd be able to get some answers.

Once on the bridge Two followed her to the console. "Where's your com, Five?"

"It must have fallen out when I was working on the engines." Five's fingers worked across the panel, eager to show off her usefulness in front of Two.

"That sounds like an excuse I would use, kiddo." Three lounged by the front of the deck, probably rechecking his bullet count.

"Why were you working-nevermind." Two turned to the map and folded her arms. "We need your help trying to decode the distress signal that's being broadcast from nowhere," Two said, eyes scanning the empty space.

"Yeah, the Android told me."

"Did she also tell you how we found you without your com?" Three said, stuffing his side arm into it's holster.

"I did not think providing such information was necessary."

"You're only saying that because it was my idea to check the core room," Three said as if he should get a gold star for participation.

"Are you implying that I purposely left out information to make you seem less competent?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

"Now now kids, I love all my children equally," Five said without taking her eyes off the console.

Sometimes she wondered if she was the most mature in their crew. _Excluding Four, of course._ But the thought was fleeting as her fingers sped up, her eyes frantically reading line after line of code.

"That's weird…"

"What?" Two rushed to the girl's side as her irritation gave way to concern.

 _She must have had the Android working on this before coming to get me._ Which meant it would be near impossible to crack.

Five hunched forward, her eyes scanning the screen looking for an explanation. "The beacon is encrypted?"

"Hate to break it to you kiddo but that doesn't sound weird given our history."

"No, not normally," Five said, heading to the front of the bridge. "But this is strange." She hoped she'd get a different result from a different console, but no such luck. "Well, stranger at least." Five winced from her injury as she punched in more data. "It's as if someone put a triple lock on this message."

"Message? What happened to it being a distress signal?" Three asked, removing his feet from one of the consoles, intrigued.

"That's what makes it weird." Five responded, her brows furrowed and lips bitten to all hell. By the end of this she'd be able to share that gold star with Three.

"Who would keep an encrypted message in the middle of space?" Two wondered.

"I believe the better question is who would encrypt a message and then broadcast a distress signal to this location," the Android interjected, her gaze fixed on the crew before her.

"No ship, no loot, which means we don't need to be here," Three insisted.

"I think I'm starting to get it," Five said excitedly. She was so _close_.

"I don't like the feel of this. Something is off. Five hold off on that-"

The ship stalled, lurched forward, and went out like a light before Two could finish.


	2. Step 2

Five watched the emergency lights fade in and out. In a daze, everything seemed soft and fuzzy to her until the cold floor reminded her of the wires she'd left exposed in the engine room. _Crap_. The newly formed bump on her head throbbed rhythmically with the dull roar of the ship. _Right, we stopped moving._

"Is everyone okay?" Two sounded like she was still getting off the floor herself.

"Yeah…I think so."

It was hard to tell whether Five's hand hurt from the impact or the burn, but at least she wasn't too banged up.

Three groaned. "What the hell happened?"

"Primary power to the engines shut down and halted our momentum.," Android informed them from above. Her gaze flickered past Five, concerned, before catching Three's deadpan expression.

"Yeah, I felt that much," he said, rolling his eyes before taking a seat nearby.

Two instinctively reached for her comm. "Did everyone get that?" Her top priority being the safety of the crew.

Five didn't wait for an all clear before getting back on a console, shoulders tense from the extended silence from the remaining crewmembers. She could tell something was wrong.

"Four, Six? Come in." Five heard Two's voice rise. "Nyx, are you reading me?" Lack of communication meant increased danger for the crew.

Working through the sense of foreboding was no small feat. Focusing on the task at hand Five tried to backtrack through the information from the beacon, but there was just too much.

"Oh," Android said, back ramrod straight. Five already had a hunch about what she was going to say.

"What?" Two asked, frowning.

"All the communication systems are down, aren't they?" Five's stomach was in knots. She had to be able to fix this, she couldn't let her _family_ get hurt over some _technical difficulties_.

The hesitation in Android's stare confirmed Five's suspicions, "Yes, along with any system unrelated to minimal life support."

Five's shoulders dropped. A code that couldn't be cracked was a frequent nightmare that plagued her, but she refused to give up. She might not be able to conquer the code but there had to be _something_ , the word _useless_ banged around her subconscious fueling her search.

"Well that explains the mood lighting." Three gestured to the emergency lights, his gun blending into the darkness.

Leaning against a console, Two clenched her hands as her frown deepened "Run a systems check to see if there's a way to get anything up and running." She wanted to exhaust all her options, even if she knew it was fruitless.

"Of course." Android nodded, her eyes unfocusing as her connection to the ship took over.

"There's gotta be a way to get through all this information," Five said, unwilling to look away from the screen. A sense of responsibility fell over her, skin chilled at the thought of all the code uploaded from the encrypted message. _It would take Andriod forever to sort through it_.

"I know," Two sighed, "But we should try and get in contact with the rest of the crew in the meantime." She checked her side for her weapon before nodding to the door.

Three cocked one of his handguns,"I'll get started."

"Wait, it might not be such a lost cause," Five said, voice rising with anticipation. Her eyes flashed excitedly with knowledge, she was onto something. "I have an idea."

"Hold on," Two stopped Three with a single wave. "What do you mean?"

"Let me go with Three," Five suggested. Since the information was too vast she had a plan that might aid in the search for their crewmates. They wouldn't have comms but that never stopped her before. "I might be able to rig the ship's systems for some kind of reboot."

"And you think that'll work?"

"It probably won't restore everything, but lights would be nice," Five said, turning on her jacket light.

"Actually, with this peculiar type of code embedded in the ship's processing, Five's theory has a sixty percent probability rate of succeeding," Android explained.

"That sounds more like forty percent chance of failure," Three scoffed.

Before Five had a chance to convince Three otherwise Android stepped forward.

"The ship is in lockdown due to a powerful command signal broadcasted from the beacon. The attack will cease when all information regarding the distress signal is removed. Our only other option would be to-"

"Manually reset," Two said, finishing Android's explanation. She knew enough about how systems worked to understand the risk factors involved. She could easily go alone, since her own nanite integrity made her stronger than anyone on the ship.

"I can do this. I know what I'm doing," Five said, standing as straight as possible. Her height always made it difficult to reassure others that she was entirely _capable_. She knew Two had faith in her abilities, but she also knew her age was always cause for concern.

"Alright, but since the comms are down stay together until you locate the others," Two said, crossing her arms. Five would be the last person on the ship to question her authority.

"Then start the reboot." It shouldn't be difficult finding the crew, but knowing they were safe would be one less thing to worry about.

Five headed to the exit. "If I get into any trouble I'll just ask Three to help me," she teased.

"With our luck, that might be the higher percentage to bet on," Three said, before the doors closed.


End file.
